Never cutaway? Do you look forward to your first?

[JeffCa 0]

I saw an internet comment by somebody who I presume is a whuffo suggesting that skydivers all look forward to the rush of our first cutaway. I thought it was a bit odd because I certainly don't (don't want to see if my rigger made a rare mistake, don't want to possibly lose my main, etc.), and recently I've heard a whole lot of bragging about how many jumps people have done without ever having to chop.

So for those of us who have never chopped, how do you feel about the prospect of it? Is anybody who looks forward to it actually doing sloppy pack jobs in the hopes that it will happen sooner?

And for those who have cutaway, I put special options in the survey just so you don't ruin my results.

"So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

[virgin-burner 1]

you just gotta do what you got to do.

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[piisfish 135]

Ask Brokky on the forum, I think he almost forgot about cutaways, 20 years and 15000 jumps from his last

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[DrDom 0]

I think like anything else (car airbags, motorcycle helmet, etc) I hope generally I never need it but really it sounds like "eventually" you may... and knowing how is everything. I'm not looking forward to the cutaway, but when I do someday have to... I'll look forward to a solid coloured canopy overhead ;)

You are not the contents of your wallet.

[shropshire 0]

You can cut away?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[rifleman 61]

As a student, I realise that sooner or later I will have to cutaway and trust my rigger. I'm not looking forward to it but I'm not going to worry about it either.

Pull, safety count, check canopy - If the canopy isn't viable at that point, it's gone. Messing around and in-air rigging kills so I'm not going to take the chance - better to lose a canopy than my life.

Atheism is a Non-Prophet Organisation

[yarpos 4]

I arranged a 2nd reserve and did an intentional cutaway.

For me it was good, and there were no thoughts of gear fear or whatever when eventually I needed to do it for real.

Nice to be able to pick ideal conditions and find all your stuff first time around.

May not appeal or be practical for others but worked for me.

regards, Steve
the older I get...the better I was

[theonlyski 3]

JeffCa

I saw an internet comment by somebody who I presume is a whuffo suggesting that skydivers all look forward to the rush of our first cutaway. I thought it was a bit odd because I certainly don't (don't want to see if my rigger made a rare mistake, don't want to possibly lose my main, etc.), and recently I've heard a whole lot of bragging about how many jumps people have done without ever having to chop.

I trust my rigger implicitly. I know he is doing good because I've got the bottles to prove it.

But no, I've never chopped.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[al05r 2]

I really do look forward to it!

As skydivers, dealing with malfunctions and executing EPs correctly is a very important part of our training. Suspended harnesses and ground drills can only go so far to simulate a real mal. I'd jump at the opportunity to jump a tertiary for an intentional cutaway, but again, the stress of identifying the malfunction and taking the appropriate course of action is taken out of the equation.

So I guess I see my first mal as my personal skydiving "litmus test" ;)

... and I'm also keen to find out how my reserve flys - but that's minor

ETA: not saying I would do something to "create" a mal so that I can deal with it - that's just stupid

[wicodefly 0]

I don't look forward to but go over my EPs every jump and will be ready if needed. I almost hit my hard deck with a bunch of twisted lines and was ready to cut, but resolved just in time.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

[mattjw916 2]

Nope... that's like saying I look forward to seeing my airbags deploy so I hope I get into an accident soon.

No chops and I hope to stay that way.

Sloppy pack jobs sound like a nice way to damage yourself and/or your gear, also dumb.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[LyraM45 0]

Just had my first chop in June. I answered 'looking forward to the first,' but not for the reasons you brought up in the OP. Rush? Not so much. But just to get it out of the way and get rid of the anxiety of 'wonder if it works like I trained, wonder if it feels just like the student harness, wonder how my reserve flies, wonder just how it all feels in general, etc' was what I was looking forward to. Now that I have it out of the way, I just have peace of mind now knowing what to expect and how it will feel. And I've also reassured myself I can do it just like I train to do it. In general it was just that thing always nagging me in the back of my mind, and once it was done, my general take was, "oh, that wasn't that bad!" and a little of that anxiety is gone

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[JoeyH 0]

Where is the never cut away and boobies option!!!??!?! I don't dread it, nor do I look forward to it. I am uncaring. You gotta do what you gotta do. Lets just hope it's after I get my riggers ticket so I can pack my reserve. It's expensive otherwise.

Carpe Diem, even if it kills me

[theplummeter 14]

My first cutaway was painful. It was a spinning malfunction and the turn was so nasty that the riser dragged through my open face and gave me an egg shaped raised bruise on my cheek and a black eye. I also lost a contact.

Beautiful opening and landing though. On heading and soft, but I suppose being not at terminal helped soften things.

[shropshire 0]

It's all a part of growing up people.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[andym148 2]

Malfunctions are a part of our sport, the one thing for certain though is the longer your in the sport the more chance you have of having one. It's a case of get used to the idea and learn to live with it by practicing your EP's everyday and before you jump, or give up the sport.
They really are nothing to worry about, as long as you have revised what to do; muscle memory will take over.

At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

[JeffCa 0]

JoeyH

Where is the never cut away and boobies option!!!??!?!

That would have ruined my data. For the people who have chopped, I'm just trying to distract them.

"So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

[BigMark 1]

Get rid of the night jumps requirement and replace it with intentional cutaway.

[JoeyH 0]

JeffCa

***Where is the never cut away and boobies option!!!??!?!

That would have ruined my data. For the people who have chopped, I'm just trying to distract them.

No, It wouidn'd have ruined it. there are a lot of people who are like me and really don't care. Like I said. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Carpe Diem, even if it kills me

[Boomerdog 0]

I've come close. Even the short time I've been in the community, I don't get a sense that any skydiver relishes this action. Anyone speculating about any type of rush gained from a cutaway is most likely (IMHO), some outside of the community peddling sordid pap for some type of response. Have to admit, I've provided a response.

[JeffCa 0]

JoeyH

******Where is the never cut away and boobies option!!!??!?!

That would have ruined my data. For the people who have chopped, I'm just trying to distract them.

No, It wouidn'd have ruined it. there are a lot of people who are like me and really don't care. Like I said. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I was trying to get the ones who "really don't care" to lean one way or the other. Even myself, I'm not as far into the "No" camp as you might think. There is a small part of me that wants to use what I was trained for. But overall, my feeling is no.

"So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

[PiLFy 0]

I used to look forward to it as being a rite of passage. I'll now be quite happy to never have to chop.

[ridebmxbikes 0]

I did actually did look forward to my first cutaway and when it happened it was everything I wanted in a malfunction. Super line twists going all the way up to a big ball of crap with heavy rotation and spinning me on my back. I definitely didn't try to cause it, I prefer surprises. One of the best jumps I've ever had!

[Alexg3265 0]

I do all my own packing and also pack for my wife. Neither of us have ever had to chop. When I was teaching myself to psychopack, with a sabre 170, I did a hop and pop at 5k and had an instant canopy with a line over. I immediately grabbed my handles and then had the sudden realization I was still at 4200.... So remembering some research, I decided what the hell, and unstowed the toggles. The line came up off the top and voila! Good canopy! This was when I had maybe 60-70 jumps. Another jumper got it all on video and you can hear him laughing, then says what are you waiting for and then, oh, uhhh well that works, wtf!? Interesting day.
Just yesterday I went with the dz operator on a hunt for a chopped tandem canopy. The search took over an hour of low flying in the Cessna 182 and then a 2500' hop and pop to land with the canopy. I landed back at the dz with aerial photos and directions to go pick up her and the canopy. The canopy was found almost 2 miles away from the dz. winds were light and variable, but after opening the tandem went in a straight line away from the dz while trying to clear line twists, and eventually chopping. (They landed off and were both fine)
Fun stuff, but I would have been sick after the first hour and turning up nothing that resembled my main. Luckily my main if fucking neon orange. The tandem was neon green and white. I found the while thing by seeing the yellow reserve PC still attached to the skyhook. Keep that in mind when coloring your next main. That green and white was like fucking camouflage!
The part that scares me most about chopping is not being able to find my shit and having save up again for another new main.... :(

I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

[Di0 1]

To me, it's more a "I want to get it out of my system" sort of thing, rather than something "I am looking forward to".

I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.